A Bite Is Never Enough

Logo Designs Part 2

2009-03-03T00:12:00.005+08:00

When my best friend mentioned that her mom's company needed some logo designing done, I volunteered myself, not just because she is my best friend, but it is also a chance for me to sharpen my designing skills:

CentralCOM is a company that deal with trade, in other words, import and export. Since the client wanted something roundish and with trade significance, I decided I should play around with rings and curves to express link and connections. I did explore a few approach, one by enhancing the icons and another is more towards the letter "C".

Finally, they chose the last one under Option 2. Not too bad, I would say so myself. Good practice and satisfied with the work. I hope to do more logos in the future.

The Write Junction

2009-03-02T20:15:00.003+08:00

My logo

Like most people, I name my business - well, not really a business per se, just an identity I gave my services. After about a day of pondering and thinking of a perfect name, I have decided to name my services, The Write Junction.

Why the Write Junction, you asked. Well, simple, it sounds like the "RIGHT" junction. And its a WRITE Junction, where one could find the writing, translating and editing services. That's my rationale. So from there, I have created a logo and a name card, with inspiration and help from my heart's dearest.

My name card (Will be available in print version as well)

New Concepts for 2007

2009-03-02T13:14:00.000+08:00

Digi and Public Bank are two of the biggest clients I handled while I am freelancing in this agency called Beyond Advertising. Small agency but with young, dynamic people.

Coming out with the copies for Digi Greeting Cards gave me a lot of opportunities to explore and research on the cultural aspects of writing - the soft touch of nostalgia and reminiscence of the good old times. I love those kind of things. Oh, how mushy, cheesy a geek am I!

Public Bank ~ quite a Chinese based financial institution. Well, at least their big boss are. He is very Chinese businessman minded so it is not surprising that he came out with investment programs for the bank's investors. Another cultural direction.

Press Ad for Public Bank OrientExpress Investment

This idea came along when I was watching my friends playing Chinese Chess one day. And one of the players suddenly said "Ah!! I miss that opportunity!" So that's when the headline come along. I shared the idea with my art director the next day and here you have it - the powerful combination of visual and words.

Another cultural approach for this concept. This is for their Members get Members Campaign.

Public Bank Credit Card MGM Campaign Leaflet cover

Using the Russian dolls, both my art director and myself manage to bring out the cheerful ambience, the blissful feeling when one get rewarded.

The younger years - 2003 to 2005

2009-03-02T10:58:00.000+08:00

My initial work consists of simple ideas. I was really exposed to insurance companies then. The terms they uses, the concept they always go for - oh you know, security, assurance and anything that sounds safe and convincing.

These are some of my work in 2005, I was in a small agency that does both online and offline jobs. Mostly online though.

Leaflets cover for one of UniAsia's Investment Package

KLM Dutch Airlines is my first pitch job:

Series Ads for KLM packages to Jakarta

Press Ad for KLM packages to Jakarta

I would consider this KLM pitch job as one of my little but important achievement. This is where my conceptually witty bud started to blossom and where I really experience travel writing. Terms like "indulge", "serenity & solace", "true wellness" and "lush greenery" are constantly explored at that time.

OK, the next job is also a pitch job for Antasis Singapore. I am proud to mention that it was the best job both my art director, Shelly and myself ever done during our time at the agency. It gets a little racy so be prepared :)

Series Ad for Antasis Singapore

The last ad clearly shows Antasis as a telecommunication company linking businesses to clients to businesses. From their initial dull, brownish and rigid outlook, we gave them these. As much as they like it but due to their budget, this campaign was put on hold.

My Credentials

2008-05-21T12:43:00.000+08:00

2003 - 2006
Disney Channel Asia website (Entertainment)
Raoul website (Fashion)
100 Plus Malaysia website (Food & Beverages)
UniAsia website (Insurance)
Royal Selangor Yacht Club website (Corporate)
UniAsia (Insurance)
Antasis Singapore (Telecommunication)
Air France KLM (Airlines)

2006 - 2007
Maxis Developer Programme website (Telecommunication)
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra website (Corporate)
MEPS Interbank Giro website (Corporate)
Public Bank Malaysia (Banking)
Digi Communication (Telecommunication)

2008-2009
Sabah Tea (Food & Beverage)
Best Denki Store (Electrical & Electronic)
MRCB - Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (Property Developments)
BERJAYA Auto (Automobile)
Acmar International (Property Developments)
Kenwood & DeLonghi (Electric & Electronic)
Sanyo (Electric & Electronic)
Malaysian Tourism Board - For distribution in Taiwan (Tourism)
MATRADE (Government)

SP Setia Collaterals (Property Developments)
HSBC below-the-line collaterals (Banking and Finance)

Winning Magnitude (Education and Exhibitions)

Nottingham University Malaysia (Education)

AEON (M) Sdn Bhd (Retail)

1Puchong (Property Developments)

Dunkin' Donuts (F&B)

Evodex, ThinkHR (IT & Software)

Pathlab (Medical)

Logos Design Part 1

2008-05-15T00:35:00.000+08:00

Ah...My first logo design. I did these designs for Benefarm Machinery in 2006 and the challenge is, they wanted their logos to be using the first letter of their Company name, which is "B". So I did researches and looked for samples I can get the ideas from. These are the best four results:

Creating depth for the "B" creates boldness and also made the letter looked pretty solid.

Since Benefarm's business is about tractors and excavators, I decided to draw out the outline of the scoop and combined it with the letter "B". It has it's strength in terms of the combinations, however, the client decided its a little too complicated for them.

Wanting something simpler, I decided to combined the bold letter with the tractor outline itself. The third one was the recommended design, however, the client find it too conceptual for them and requested for something without the outline.

So, they finally chose this. The first one with the red wheel. This kind of design says it all, simplicity is always the best. I still grinned every time my partner pointed out the design on the online yellow pages. It's a good training ground for me and look forward to do more to sharpen my graphic skills.

What is a Copywriter?

2008-04-28T17:27:00.000+08:00

Everybody writes. A 3 year old, even 2 year old probably sit on the floor scribbling their first letter 'A'. Then sometimes people asked me "What do you do?". I said "I am a Copywriter".
"Oh, you write all those copyrights?", "You copy writings, from who?" were two common questions I get when I mentioned "Copywriter".

A somewhat "smarter" and less hard to answer question would be, "What does a copywriter do?". Simple "We write copies for advertising. Any writings or contents regarded to advertising medium, we called them copies."

There. Copywriter.

But... Everybody writes. So what makes a copywriter?

There are so many kinds of writers everywhere. In the corporate world, we would find a Technical writer, a Business writer and perhaps an sales executive just doing write-ups for the company products because their bosses asked them to. Then in education line, we sees an Academic writer, an Editor perhaps and a professor who produces their own academic writings. Ah... Literature; book authors, poets and critics, they are all writers. In films, we have Script writers, Screen writers and even Producers write their own scripts. Then we have medical writers, news writer or reporters as we called them, Feature writers and so many more.

OK. Back to a Copywriter. Like the rest, we do research, experiments, interviews, proof readings, editing and things writers need in order to produce a work.

Well... The differences are, Copywriters will do a little extra brainstorming, ideas development and also, visualizing. We have to sit down with our Art Directors or Designers (They are the visual kings/queens!) to come out with an Ad. Lets just say, throwing in ideas, blending our ideas with our Art Directors and putting those ideas into words are the thing we do as Copywriters. Oh, and that's why sometimes we are called Creative writers.

There you go.

This is an ad from Subaru. See the headline in the middle? That's a copy. There are a lot of blogs on ads, I got this from www.scoobyblog.com

What about me?

2008-04-28T17:10:00.000+08:00

Bubbly

Helper

Passionate

Nature lover

Believer

Activist

Observant

Strong-willed

Teachable

Calm

Sensitive to needs

Accountable

Willing

Sociable

Survivor

Over the edge

Dreamer

Visionary

Want more bites?

Leave me a comment or...

Email me: the.write.junction@gmail.com

I speak, I write

2008-03-04T20:35:00.000+08:00

I speak English, I write English... Duh~

How good am I? Well, I would say excellent with a lot more space for improvement. I am not afraid of improvement, I am more afraid of not improving. So yea, I would say I am well experienced in writing and speaking English.

Then, because I am a translator as well, so I know Bahasa Malaysia and occasionally, I would do English to Bahasa translation or likewise. Unfortunately, I could only speak in Mandarin and Cantonese but not in writing. Too bad, or I'll be a tri-language translator!

Another addition to my language bank is Bahasa Indonesia, a tongue I picked up from my good friends from Indonesia. I think I got a flair in picking up languages, well, at least I hope I do. My next target will be Italian and French - how ambitious!

Kudos!

Everybody Needs Education

2008-03-02T12:09:00.000+08:00

My education years started when I am 5, kindergarden but hey, why am I talking about kindergarden?? Lets start by me passing my O'Levels studies.

1994-1998

School name

SMB St Columba, Sarawak, Malaysia

Certification

SPM (Malaysian Certificate of Education)

Description

Similar to British GCSE and I would say I did fairly well. At least I got A1 for my English subject.

1999 - 2003

College name

Lim Kok Wing University of Creative Technology, Selangor, Malaysia

Certification

Advanced Diploma in Arts majoring in Mass Communication

Description

It's all about assignments back then. Passing grades are painful to get but nevertheless, I am glad to have gone through it.

2002 - 2003

University name

Curtin University, Perth, Australia

Certification

Bachelor of Arts majoring in Mass Communication

Description

One year seems so long when I did my finals. The graduation ceremony did leave me a little touched.

One must wondered how much did you apply from your studying time in your work. Well, for me, I think 13%? Then again, I don't deal with the statistics. I actually learned more about advertising and copywriting only when I started working. The studying part is more like an introduction to the word "advertising" or "communication" and some graphic tools. I learn as much as I can then, I work as hard as I can now. Learning is a never ending process.

“Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

-Oscar Wilde